A Short History of Online Gambling

The online gambling industry currently has a global market value of around $57 billion. The very first online casino was established back in the mid-1990s and no one was really paying attention to online gambling back then. In fact, internet services were mostly reserved for large corporations, government institutions, and the ultra-wealthy. There were only 15 online gambling sites back then. But within a year, the number surged to 200. And that’s despite the fact much of the world’s population still didn’t have access to internet services. Some of the websites that sprouted up from that era even continue to exist today. The online gambling market has gone through a number of iterations and evolutions over the past three decades and it’s been an interesting journey to witness.

Developing Technology

As anyone knows, it’s the land-based casinos that have served as the foundation for the gambling industry all over the world. Cities like Las Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City have served as tourist hubs for gambling lovers who span the globe. However, it became very impractical for people to have to travel long distances just for them to be able to gamble. That’s why one of the greatest gifts of the internet age to the gambling industry is the concept of the online gambling site.

Back in the 90s, even though there were already a number of different gambling sites, they didn’t achieve the same kind of numbers and market performance that the industry is achieving today. That’s because the internet was still a developing technology and there were still little to no regulations on online gambling activities. It was when Antigua and Barbuda started issuing licenses to online gambling operators that the industry really started to pick up. All of this was made possible through the Free Trade and Processing Zone act.

Evolving the Space

At first, online casinos mostly operated on web-based platforms. Users would have to make use of internet browsers to access these online gambling sites. They would then create accounts with their own e-wallet before they can place bets. After that, some gambling operators saw the need to create dedicated software that users could save locally onto their PCs. That meant that users no longer needed to make use of internet browsers in order to play their favorite casino games. And it remained this way up until the late 2000s when the iPhone first came out.

When smartphones and mobile devices started taking the world by storm, online casino operators saw the need to pivot and adapt to the changing consumer patterns of the time. People weren’t using their computers and laptops as much as they were using their phones and tablets. That’s why many casino operators and software providers began working on projects and apps that could translate well on mobile devices. From there, mobile apps that worked seamlessly on phones and tablets started becoming the norm for the online gambling industry.

Preparing for the Future

Nowadays, there are three emerging trends in the virtual casino industry. First, there are live dealer games. One of the major knocks of the industry in the past was the lack of a human element. Given that many of these games run on a piece of code or software, many users found themselves craving the human interaction in an actual physical casino. From there, developers started making use of video conferencing technology in order to allow live dealers to facilitate games instead of a piece of software.

After that, extended reality started becoming more immersive and commercially available to the vast population. Consumers started making use of virtual and extended reality devices in order to create a more immersive online gambling experience. Granted, the technology still has a long way to go in terms of innovation. But there is so much potential, especially with the rising popularity of metaverse platforms.

Lastly, cryptocurrency has been gaining rampant popularity all over the world as a standard mode of payment. This has led numerous casino operators online to offer crypto-integrations into their sites. That means that players are now allowed to transact with these casinos through crypto, which is considered a far more secure and sophisticated financial system.

Conclusion

The industry has been reaching unprecedented peaks, but it’s unlikely that it’s going to stop where it’s currently at. Experts believe that the industry will continue to grow as internet becomes more accessible to the masses and as technology becomes more sophisticated in the future.